I can honestly say that after everything I witnessed yesterday, I will never look at my wife the same way again (and yes, although everyone warned me to not peek at the afterbirth, I managed to glance over at the exact perfect millisecond to see pretty much everything).
But I can also honestly say that my previous statement has absolutely nothing to do with anything physical. She is still amazingly beautiful to me, and now there’s nothing that will change that.
I have always had a deep and passionate respect for my wife - but watching her give life to our daughter, I couldn’t believe how many more levels of respect, pride and love I was capable of feeling for her.
We both realize that women have been giving birth for, well, a long time. But since this was her first, we had heard the stories. And as much as we tried to not let them derail our plan, we were admittedly nervous. But if you know us, we like to attack adversity with a little trick - humor.
Yes, Elf was playing in the background. So, too, was Hello! Dolly prior to that. My wife has a little Barbra thing - but young Barbra. Beckah has watched the latter so many times that she can recite lines and she had the nurses cracking up. The anesthetist even sat down on the couch to watch for a minute or two after finishing her work.
The movies helped - I mean, if you’ve not seen Will Ferrell dressed in tights getting blind-sided by an NYC cab then it’s hard to explain how a bit of visual humor can really take your mind on a quick vacation. But I’m sure you have a favorite film, or television show, and can relate.
But my wife has this ability to also turn random things into comedic gold. The gown she was wearing had a pocket on its breast for heart monitors (not for her, but you know those one-size-fits-all kind of deals). Along with the pocket was a small opening which she deadpanned to the nurses was “just for me, to breastfeed”. Okay, it was probably funnier in person. Just ask the nurses.
She also named her IV caddy “Rosita” - apparently a first at the hospital. It seems not too many patients name their medical equipment. But the nurses loved it. They told their other nurse friends about my wife. And I really think it helped to create a rapport.
At one point, one of her nurses told us that we seem to have a really fun life -
“I bet you laugh a lot at home, don’t you?” she asked. My wife replied that she apparently hasn’t met our puppies… (more on them later)
It seemed like most of the day went by in slow motion - even when she started to push and the hospital staff rushed around, it was a scene from a movie. The moment our daughter met the world, though, time exploded. I was… weepy. I normally like to keep things pretty level - I’m an emotional ninja. But the combination of seeing our baby for the first time after nine months of imagining her and the swell of pride I had for my wife after watching her own the pain made my chin springy and I started leaking.
And I’m not the least bit ashamed. (As a true ninja, I quickly leveled out).
After all, my wife is a champ and our baby is beautiful.
